Title

Water, Wax, and a Ski

Specific Question

How long would it take for one drop of water from a turkey baister to travel down a ski with wax on it?

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that water will go down a 155cm ski with the CH 8 wax in the shortest amount of time.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable: Type of Wax

Dependent Variable: Time in seconds

Variables That Need To Be Controlled: the ski used, number of times ski was prepped, used a turkey baster each time, one drop of water each time, length of ski tested on (top to bottom), same angle ski placed at, waxed entire ski, same amount of wax used each time, remove wax after each trial, same person for each turkey baster drop, same person for each time collected

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

CH 10-+10ºC to 0ºC (50ºF to 32ºF). For very wet, saturated snow. This is the Worlds most frequently used wax for base prep/saturation and as travel wax for warm skis. Recommended iron temperature setting of 110ºC

CH 8-+1ºC to -4ºC (34ºF to 25ºF). A very good, reliable and economical racing wax, as well as a general base prep wax and travel wax for “cold” skis. Recommended iron temperature setting of 120ºC.

CH 7(-) -2ºC to -8ºC (28ºF to 18ºF). CH7 is a good general purpose pre-wax and travel wax because its range for use falls in the middle of the Cera Nova system. CH7 makes a good base bonding wax for either warmer or colder waxes applied later. For summer and glacier skiing and riding it provides good glide plus good base protection especially when mixed with CH3. Recommended iron temperature setting of 135ºC.

CH 6(-)-6ºC to -12ºC (21ºF to 10ºF). For common cold conditions. Contains also some synthetic wax, which makes it durable in aggressive snow. Good training wax alone. It offers good glide plus base protection at an economical price. Recommended iron temperature setting of 140ºC.

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General Plan

The experiment will test the speed of water when dropped on a ski of 45 degree angle with different temperature wax. The ski will be waxed, scraped, and brushed. The ski will be placed at a 45 degree angle upside down with the tip on the table and tail on the floor. Next water was dropped down the ski and timed to see how long it took for water to reach from top to bottom. This process was repeated with the remaining three waxes. The waxes used in this experiment were all Swix wax. The purpose of running this experiment was to see if the wax that was recommended for 32 degree ice water actually is better than other waxes recommended for different temperature snow/ water.

Potential Problems And Solutions

The temperature of the water could be off. Solution - keep water in one spot and test the temperature before using it.
Wax could be left on the ski. Solution - scapre wax off each time.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

Temperature of the iron used to melt was could be dangerous because it could burn you.

Experimental Design

Resources and Budget Table

Materials
1.swix wax Ch 6
2.swix wax Ch 7
3.swix wax Ch 8
4.swix wax Ch 10
5.a brass brush
6.brass nylon brush
7.horse hair brush
8.nylon brush
9.scraper for downhill ski
10.ski iron
11.H2O
12.turkey baster
13.stop watch
14.and a Slalom ski
15.timer
16.camera
ALL READY HAVE ALL SUPPLIES NEEDED, NO MONEY NEEDED.

Data Table

Time Line

April 1 - run experiment and collect data

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Background Research

CH 10 +10ºC to 0ºC (50ºF to 32ºF). For very wet, saturated snow. This is the Worlds most frequently used wax for base prep/saturation and as travel wax for warm skis. Recommended iron temperature setting of 110ºC

CH 8 +1ºC to -4ºC (34ºF to 25ºF). A very good, reliable and economical racing wax, as well as a general base prep wax and travel wax for “cold” skis. Recommended iron temperature setting of 120ºC.

CH 7 -2ºC to -8ºC (28ºF to 18ºF). CH7 is a good general purpose pre-wax and travel wax because its range for use falls in the middle of the Cera Nova system. CH7 makes a good base bonding wax for either warmer or colder waxes applied later. For summer and glacier skiing and riding it provides good glide plus good base protection especially when mixed with CH3. Recommended iron temperature setting of 135ºC.

CH 6 -6ºC to -12ºC (21ºF to 10ºF). For common cold conditions. Contains also some synthetic wax, which makes it durable in aggressive snow. Good training wax alone. It offers good glide plus base protection at an economical price. Recommended iron temperature setting of 140ºC.

References

__http://www.swixsport.com/eway/default.aspx?pid=278&trg=MainContent_6179&MainContent_61__

Detailed Procedure

Procedure

1. Put water in fridge let sit for 32 degrees.
2. Brush out old wax on ski with a brass brush (x2).
3. Plug in iron to recommended melting temperature of wax.
4. Once at recommended melting temperature hold wax to bottom of iron and drip wax up and down the ski then take wax off iron and set aside while going over the ski with the iron, melting the wax evenly in to the ski “from the drops.”
5. Set the ski aside to cool and for wax to harden while getting other ski is ready.
6. Set the iron for the recommended temperature of a different temperature suggested wax.
7. Once at new recommended melting temperature hold wax to bottom of iron and drip wax up and down the ski then take wax off iron and set aside while going over the ski melting the wax evenly in to the ski “from the drops.”
8. Set ski aside and grab the ski that was already waxed and scrape 10 times down the ski like a broom (with pressure).
9. Then take brass brush and brush the length of the ski twice like a broom (with pressure).
10. Take brass/ nylon brush and brush the length of the ski 3 times like a broom (with pressure).
11. Take horse hair brush and brush the length of the ski twice like a broom with full body weight.
12. Use the nylon brush and lightly brush the length of the ski once.
13. REPEAT STEPS 8-12.
14. Then drop one drop of the 32 degree water from a turkey baster well timing how long it takes from top to bottom requires 2+ people for dropping and timing.
15. REPEAT ALL STEPS WITH DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE WAX.
16. When dropping water on the ski it will be timed from the tip of the ski to the tail of the ski

Photo List

• ski
• brushing the ski
• water going down the ski
• using the turkey baster
• timer
• wax
• each trial (4 - one with each wax)

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Results

The experiment was conducted to find if ski waxes can really be trusted on their recommended temperatures. The experiment was trying to see if you would rather ski on the recommended wax or a ski wax that was proved better but assigned a different temperature. The CH6 wax had a mean time of 1.2 seconds, the CH7 had a mean of 1.2, the CH8 had a mean of 1.1, and the CH10 had a mean of .8.

All Raw Data

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AnditGo46XrxdGdmUXhFQi1tVzJNT2gtUnZkVVZnU0E&single=true&gid=0&output=html

Graphs

Photos

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Data Analysis

Conclusion

How fast does water travel on a ski when four different types of waxes are used?The independent variable was four different types of Swix Wax. The dependent variable was how long it would take 1 drop of water from a turkey baster to travel down the ski in seconds. In this experiment it was found that the recommended temperature for the type of ski wax was accurate. For example the Ch10, which is recommended for the warmest temperature had the shortest time of .8, while the CH6 which is recommended for the coldest had the longest time of 1.2 seconds.

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Discussion

The question for this experiment was how long would it take for one drop of water from a turkey baster to travel down a ski that was waxed with four different types of waxes. It was tested to see if the recommended temperature was best for each type of wax. It was tested to see if wax could be used at any temperature. The question was answered when I found out that the recommended ski wax was actually right for the temperature.
My hypothesis was not supported by my results. The results showed the next higher temperature wax (CH 10) was the fastest wax for that temperature 32 degrees. The hypothesis was that the CH 8 would be the fastest. All of the results for a specific wax would tend to be within 0.5 seconds. The times for the waxes are accurate because they are not spread too far.
The experiment ran smoothly when testing because the plan was well thought out to avoid problems. I could do this better in the future by dropping the water more accurately. That would mean that when I used the turkey baster it was a large amount of water. If I would have used a smaller dropper and smaller amount of water it would be more accurate.
Ski racers that have wax trouble might find this helpful. Most ski racers use wax to improve the speed of base of their ski because the faster the ski the faster the skier could go on a race course. Knowing that the recommended wax temperature on the box is accurate helps because you will be able to trust your wax.

Abstract

This experiment was testing the accuracy of different waxes and their recommended temperatures to use them for. The waxes used were made by Swix. The types of wax were CH 6, CH 7, CH 8, and CH 10. I waxed a ski with each type of wax. Then water was dropped at the top of the ski. Time was recorded to measure how long it took for the water to get to the bottom of the ski. The experiment was tested ten times for each type of wax and then the mean was calculated.